TRAI said to Moot Mechanism for KYC-based caller name display, consultation to begin in a few months

Telecom regulator TRAI will soon start consultation on framing a mechanism for caller's KYC-based name to flash on phone screens when someone calls, according to a top official.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has received a reference to begin consultation on the same from the Department of Telecom (DoT).

The consultation on this is expected to begin in a couple of months, TRAI Chairman PD Vaghela said.

TRAI had already been thinking on similar lines, but now with the specific reference from the telecom department, work on this will start soon.

The move assumes significance as the mechanism will help identify callers as per their KYC (Know Your Customer) and bring greater accuracy and transparency than some apps that identify callers based on crowdsourcing data.

Sources said that once the framework for KYC based-new mechanism is worked out, the identity establishment will become more clear and legally tenable. 

It will also have a ripple effect, leading to a clean up of data on crowdsourcing apps as there will be KYC linkages.